During construction of buildings, bridges and the like, it is common to have the ends of steel reinforcing bars protruding from walls, columns and the like during various stages of the construction. The protruding ends of the reinforcing bars present a hazard to workmen who might fall on the bars.
Certain safety regulations in most locations now require that caps or covers be placed on the ends of the protruding bars so as to protect workers that might fall onto the bars. Occupational Safety and Health Standards Boards (OSHA) have established certain standards for such caps to insure that they are of sufficient strength and durability that the cap will maintain its integrity even under all reasonable conditions that a person might fall on the protruding bars. A typical standard would require that the caps be able to withstand the impact of a 250 pound weight dropped from a height of 10 feet without the protruding rod penetrating the cap. Minimum sizes of the cap are also established so that the top of the cap is substantially greater than the diameter of the bar on which it is mounted.
A typical existing cap for these purposes is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,708.
Some existing caps have a steel plate incorporated within a molded plastic cap to add strength thereto and to further resist puncturing of the cap when a load is imposed on the top of a rod. Such caps are relatively heavy for handling in both quantities, and the shipping costs thereof are obviously high. The incorporation of a metal plate in the plastic molding adds to the expense of manufacture through both cost of material and assembly expense.
In addition, certain prior art structures, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,443, do not have structure which tends to allow the cover to center itself on the reinforcing bar. Reinforcing bars (xe2x80x9cre-barxe2x80x9d) are mandated by OSHA to have safety caps therefore on construction sites to protect workers from impalement in the event they accidentally fall upon a vertically positioned rebar.
Safety caps are manufactured with a cylindrical shaped re-bar pocket with compliant internal fins to hold the cap in an upright, vertical orientation. The re-bar pocket is sized to fit on larger diameter re-bars and the fins assist in orienting the caps when they are installed on smaller diameter re-bar. The fins also direct the re-bar tip toward the center of the cap where it is more capable of withstanding impact loading without the re-bar penetrating the caps dome.
It is common practice for contractors to reuse caps and after repeated re-use the orientation fins can become damaged or removed altogether. In this condition, caps can tip off vertically and thereby place the end of smaller diameter rebar at the outer edge of the pocket where the cap is most vulnerable to penetration.
A principal object of this invention is to provide a reinforcing bar cover that will withstand existing drop test without having a steel plate inserted therein.
A further object of this invention is to provide a protective cover for reinforcing bars that is relatively light in weight, and efficiently and economically capable of being manufactured.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a protection cover for reinforcing bars to ensure that the tip of the bar is oriented in the center of the bar pocket, and to maximize the opportunity for the cap to orient vertically upon impact by a falling body.
A protective cover for covering the end of a reinforcing bar has a cylindrical tube having an open end and an upper end. A cap is on the upper end of the tube, and an inverted frusto-conical surface is provided in the upper end of the tube to cause the reinforcing bar to orient itself vertically upon impact by a falling body.
The protective cover also has strengthening ribs both above and below the canopy to prevent its inadvertent collapse. The ribs below the canopy are further strengthened against lateral deflection by a circular wall which extends downwardly from the canopy and intersects each of the ribs at their substantial mid section.